Legend3D expands with vfx division

Stereo Works wing adds to company's San Diego facilities

At a time when many visual effects houses are moving parts of their operations to locations like India and Canada, San Diego-based Legend3D unveiled a new vfx subdivision of the company called Stereo Works on Monday.

Legend3D, which has a Los Angeles office at Hollywood Center Studios, is one of the largest U.S.-based 3D studio conversion facilities. The company expanded to include vfx work on a project-by-project basis.

“Over time different clients would ask if we could do a little bit of visual effects or if we could enhance the shot in some way,” said Jared Sandrew, head of creative for Stereo Works and stereoscopic visual effects supervisor for Legend3D. “We’re able to be cost competitive with companies outside of the U.S. by being located in San Diego and face time with clients is very important to us, which is hard to get if a company is far away.”

Stereo Works will be focused on services such as stereoscopic rotoscoping, color matching and 2D plate correction. With the help of venture capital financing, the subdivision also aims to develop new vfx algorithms with the hopes they’ll lead to money-saving workflows.

Legend3D has about 60 employees who’ve been cross-trained in both stereoscopic conversion and vfx. They’ve already completed vfx work on “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

“People say that 2D to 3D conversion isn’t a visual effect but it really turns the entire film into a visual effect,” said Sandrew. “So, this is a natural expansion of what we do.”